Bloggers say they keep mainstream media honest

At Moravian, 3 with online Web logs also claim political power.

October 20, 2004|By Romy Varghese Of The Morning Call

It's a chance to empower political activists and expose errors in journalism. Or it's a great way to crack jokes and get paid, if you're lucky.

Three political bloggers, writers of online journals known as Web logs -- "blogs" -- shared their thoughts on the burgeoning Internet medium in a panel discussion Tuesday night at Moravian College in Bethlehem.

"Blogging is like throwing spitballs from the back of the class," said Cox, the only blogger on the panel who draws a salary for her trademark cutting commentary.

Hinderaker said bloggers are commentators, and Moulitsas sees blogging as a tool for his liberal activism.

The three said blogs have had a significant influence on traditional news coverage in this heated presidential campaign.

For instance, Hinderaker's conservative blog was instrumental in revealing that CBS News reporting about President Bush's National Guard service was based on false documents, a discovery that was picked up by major media outlets and helped prompt a public apology from anchor Dan Rather.

Hinderaker said that after the CBS report was aired on "60 Minutes II," readers of his blog pointed out inaccuracies in the documents. Their comments and information were posted on the blog the next morning. "It was all there by lunchtime," he said.

He said the CBS episode showed the power of the Internet and blogging to consolidate pieces of information from various sources.

What makes blogs better than the standard media, especially cable television news shows, is that mistakes are immediately corrected, the bloggers said. Also, bloggers link to Web sites they're referring to in their comments, allowing readers to evaluate background facts themselves.

If he forgets to include a link with information to support one of his posts, Moulitsas said, he instantly hears from readers asking for it. They say, "We love you, but we don't trust you."

"That's the way people should read [all] media," he added. "They should be skeptical."

Asked by an audience member how influential bloggers could be, when not all Americans have computers with Internet access, the bloggers said their target isn't the public.

It's people who shape news or policies -- who are "opinion leaders" such as journalists, as the Democratic-leaning Cox put it. And their blogs are getting hundreds of thousands of hits a day.

Although political blogs are consumed with presidential campaign coverage, they won't fade once the election's over, they said. Moulitsas said there will be more battles for the left to fight, no matter what the outcome, and Cox said there is enough "absurdity" from both parties to keep her busy.

The "blogosphere" owes its rise to technological advances and the rapid march of events, especially after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that compel people to read and write blogs regularly, Hinderaker said.

"The level of interest is here to stay," he said. "The medium is here to stay."